How to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony Friday

Mexican cross country skier German Madrazo poses next to Olympic rings at the Alpensia Olympic Park on the eve of the opening of the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games on February 8, 2018.

Mexican cross country skier German Madrazo poses next to Olympic rings at the Alpensia Olympic Park on the eve of the opening of the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Games on February 8, 2018. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

Early Friday morning, the opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics will take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where 92 nations and more than 2,500 athletes will compete in 102 events over the next two and a half weeks.

The games will run through Feb. 25 They began Wednesday, before one the Games’ signature events — the opening ceremony— which always offers the world a chance to celebrate together, at least those of us who are awake at what can be odd hours for some parts of the globe, depending on where you live.

Caveat: To watch live online, viewers will need to authenticate access through their cable provider log-in. If you don’t have one, you can still watch for free by signing up for a free trial of YouTube TV, Sling TV, Hulu, Fubo TV or DirectTV Now.

What should viewers anticipate?

The Winter Olympics will kick off at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. However, it will be first time that two neighboring nations that are historically at odds — North Korea and South Korea — compete together in unity. Keep an eye out for the joint Korean team.

As in past ceremonies, mechanical malfunctions can happen. We won’t know what will happen in this year’s opening ceremony, but who could forget the malfunctioning Olympic ring that didn’t open in Sochi?